Faster Testing | 10 Ways To Speed Up Testing

As the software is becoming more and more complex in design, a need for efficient testing has become very crucial in the software development lifecycle. It helps identify and address defects early on, preventing issues from reaching the production stage. 

Faster testing is often achieved through automation, parallelization, prioritization of test cases, and integration with continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. By adopting these practices, development teams can achieve quicker turnaround times, improve agility, and deliver software with increased speed without sacrificing quality.

What is Faster Testing?

“Faster testing” refers to the practice of optimizing and expediting the software testing process. It involves implementing strategies, tools, and methodologies to reduce the time required for various testing activities without compromising the quality of the software. The goal is to accelerate the testing lifecycle to provide quicker feedback on the software’s functionality, performance, and reliability.

Examples of Faster Testing.

There are various ways to achieve this. Some very common examples are listed below.

• Writing and executing automated test scripts significantly speeds up the testing process. Automation allows for the rapid and repetitive execution of test cases, freeing up manual testing resources for more complex scenarios. Though test automation tools, in general, make your testing process faster, low-code test automation tools make your testing more efficient and faster than tools that support only script-based testing. 

Example – Let me give an instance: Selenium vs Testsigma, though both are among the best test automation tools in the market, the pace of testing varies in accordance with manual effort, technical skills, time, ease of use, etc. Testsigma makes your testing 10x faster with test automation support like NLPs, Record features, and custom coding support.

On the other hand, Selenium is a tool that supports script-based testing. And it would require extensive coding skills to create automated tests. This would require more time to create test scripts, and test reusability is also quite less when compared to a low-code testing tool.

So, if you’re looking to make your test automation faster with more quality, consider using a low-code platform.

Learn more about automation testing here

• Running tests in parallel on multiple devices or environments helps identify issues concurrently, reducing the overall testing time. Parallel testing is particularly useful for cross-browser or cross-platform testing.
• Integrating testing into the CI process allows for automatic testing with each code commit. This ensures that defects are detected early in the development cycle, minimizing the time between identifying and fixing issues.
• Shifting testing activities earlier in the development process, such as during the requirements or design phase, helps catch and address issues at their inception, preventing them from progressing through later stages.

How fast should tests be?

The speed of tests is a critical aspect of an efficient software development process. Tests should strike a balance between being fast enough to provide rapid feedback to developers, especially in continuous integration and deployment environments, and comprehensive enough to ensure the robustness of the codebase. Unit tests, designed to run quickly and frequently, should be swift to catch issues early in the development cycle. However, the speed of tests should not compromise their realism or depth, as a thoughtful combination of fast unit tests and more comprehensive integration and end-to-end tests contributes to a well-rounded testing strategy. Ultimately, the optimal speed of tests is contextual, influenced by the project’s requirements, testing environment, and the need for timely and accurate feedback.

How to do Faster Testing and Maintain Quality?

Achieving faster testing while maintaining quality involves leveraging automation for repetitive tasks and prioritizing test scenarios based on critical functionalities. Implementing parallelization and continuous integration practices further streamline the testing process, ensuring efficient feedback without compromising the thoroughness of quality assurance.

‍1. Optimize the CI/CD Pipeline

Optimizing the Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipeline contributes to faster testing by automating the build, test, and deployment processes. Efficient CI/CD pipelines enable rapid feedback loops, automatically triggering tests upon code changes, identifying issues early in the development cycle, and facilitating quicker releases. Additionally, parallelization within the pipeline allows for simultaneous execution of tests, significantly reducing the overall testing time and enhancing the speed of software delivery while maintaining a focus on quality

‍2. Start Tracking Bugs Early 

Starting to track bugs early in the development process accelerates testing by identifying and addressing issues at their inception. Early bug tracking allows for immediate resolution, preventing the accumulation of complex and interconnected problems later in the development cycle. This proactive approach reduces the time spent on debugging during later testing phases, streamlining the overall testing process and promoting a faster and more efficient software development lifecycle.

‍3. Implement Parallel Testing

Execute tests concurrently or in parallel to save time. This can be achieved by running tests on multiple machines or using parallel testing frameworks.

‍4. Get the Testing Process Organized

it is essential to establish a structured and documented testing process. Begin by defining clear objectives and scope, creating a detailed test plan, and documenting comprehensive test cases and scripts. Efficient test data management and streamlined test environment setups contribute to organized testing efforts.

‍5. Balance Manual and Automation Testing

Balancing manual and automation testing is crucial for optimizing the testing process. Manual testing provides a human perspective, intuition, and adaptability, while automation testing offers speed, repeatability, and efficiency. Striking the right balance ensures that the strengths of both approaches are leveraged effectively.

Test automation tools like Testsigma make your test automation process 10x faster, thereby helping you ship products at an 8x faster rate. This saves a lot of time, resources, effort, and cost.

‍6. Reduce Flakiness in the QA Process

Reducing flakiness in testing is crucial for achieving reliable and efficient test automation. Flaky tests are tests that produce inconsistent results, often leading to false positives or negatives. A stable and consistent test environment, coupled with dynamic wait strategies and robust locator mechanisms, helps address common causes of flakiness

‍7. Test on Real Devices

Real devices provide a more authentic representation of user interactions, allowing testers to identify device-specific issues that might go unnoticed in simulated environments. This approach ensures a comprehensive evaluation of the application’s performance across various devices, operating systems, and network conditions, leading to a more robust and reliable product.

‍‍8. Use Container Approach to Get Fast Feedback

The containerization of applications enhances collaboration between development and testing teams, as they can share the same containerized environment, minimizing discrepancies between testing and production environments. The result is faster and more reliable feedback on the application’s functionality, performance, and compatibility, enabling teams to identify and address issues promptly in the development lifecycle.

‍‍9. Implement Continuous Testing

Continuous testing involves the seamless integration of automated tests into the continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline. By automating the execution of tests at various stages of development, from unit testing to acceptance testing, teams can obtain immediate feedback on code changes. This not only accelerates the identification of defects but also ensures that new functionalities do not compromise existing features

‍10. Keep Communication Transparent

Foster collaboration between development, testing, and operations teams. Effective communication helps in resolving issues faster and ensures that everyone is aligned with the project goals. Maintaining transparent communication within the testing team and across development fosters a collaborative environment. Swift issue resolution, effective collaboration, and shared insights accelerate testing cycles, ensuring faster and more efficient software delivery.

How Does Testsigma Help Organizations for Faster Testing?

Testsigma is a robust, low-code, cloud-based AI-driven test automation tool that supports scriptless test automation for web, mobile, desktop, and API tests in a single platform. 

It makes your test automation 10x faster, allowing you to ship products at an 8x faster rate. This significantly reduces the time, cost, effort, and resources required for testing.

Using Testsigma, testers can create and execute automated tests using plain English statements as it supports NLPs. Also, it offers a Record feature where testers can record user interactions and run them as automated tests on the cloud. 

It also supports the creation of code-based test scripts using Java for certain scenarios that might require coding. This makes testing accessible for everyone in the team and requires less manual effort, cost, time, and resources, and less to no coding skills. 

Below is an image of how test case creation and execution will look when you automate tests with Testsigma.

Learn more about automating your tests with Testsigma

Conclusion

To expedite testing processes employ strategies such as test automation, parallel testing, and continuous integration. Prioritize critical tests, manage test data efficiently, and use cloud testing services. Implementing these practices ensures a streamlined testing pipeline, delivering faster and more high-quality results throughout the software development lifecycle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is a better way of testing in a quicker time?

The most effective way to achieve quicker testing depends on the context, project requirements, and available resources. However, a combination of automated testing, continuous integration, and parallel testing is often considered a powerful approach for faster and more efficient testing. Automated testing reduces manual effort and accelerates repetitive tasks, continuous integration ensures that tests are run consistently with each code change, and parallel testing enables the execution of multiple tests simultaneously, further reducing testing time. Additionally, prioritizing tests based on critical functionalities and implementing a robust test data management strategy contributes to faster testing cycles. It’s essential to tailor the testing approach to the specific needs and constraints of the project.